During my presentations, I challenge audience members to reflect upon the difference between doing things based on the idea of 'supposed to' and 'need to', where 'supposed to' are those things that have the basic requirement of what we are to do and how we are to do it. 'Need to' are those things that go beyond the norm, requiring us to stand up for and against things that may not be the popular choice. 

In addition, 'need to' calls us to make the change to improve ourselves, our environment, and our world.

Several years ago, after one of my performances, a boy comes up to me, hands me a rolled up paper, and asks me to open it. I open it, and on the paper is a hand drawn blueprint. The young man says, "That's the map of my school. The 'Xs' are the places where I was going to place the bombs on Friday morning. I am no longer to place the bombs in my school. Thanks for what you did."

'Need to' calls us to save lives. Ours. And others.

 

I, too, have met Mija

There are those like demons
who birth little children
but they are like snakes
slithering through gardens

their appetite is destruction
and my mind is spent

it is not knowledge that has betrayed me
it is flesh
decaying, rotting flesh

who can spare me from such calamities
allies are backbones but are of no great reassurance
government officials are mocking sorcerers

who can spare me and bury all things acidic and poisonous?
Let us see.
We will see.